Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. I have to admit I'm a Tom Clancy fan. But as for this movie: I doubt we'll be seeing a sequel any time soon. Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) is a graduate student in the UK when 9/11 hits New York. He immediately volunteers for military service. A helicopter that he is in gets hit by a surface to air missile. He survives, but has a broken back. While doing physical therapy, he meets a therapist named Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley). Though not shown, soon after he finishes his therapy, they begin dating. He also happens to catch the eye of the CIA, particularly Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner). The CIA found some intelligence write-ups he'd done while serving in the military. The CIA is impressed and recruit him. His role in the CIA is to get a job on Wall Street and track dirty money. Some money moves in Russia grab his attention. Off to Russia he goes.
Spoilers below, but hopefully I'm not giving away too much.
Okay, where to start with my disdain for the movie. First, we meet Jack's antagonist early in the movie, a Russian named Victor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh). He's shooting up drugs. We are led to believe that he's a wealthy drug addict. We later learn this is just a weak setup to make Cathy Muller look intelligent.
Second, Jack is trying to save the world. He's in a fight. The person he is fighting is seen clinging for survival. Jack runs to a vehicle. Cut scene. Next thing we see, Jack is driving the vehicle (now how he got the vehicle to where he got the vehicle is beyond me) and the guy is in the back of the vehicle. Now how exactly did this guy get into the back of the vehicle?
Third, major spoiler, but if I recall a major part of this scene was in the trailers. Jack arrives in Russia and is met by a bodyguard employed by Victor Cherevin. Now let's remember that yes Victor is Jack's antagonist, but he's also a wealthy individual who does business with Jack's bank. There is no reason yet for Victor to believe that Jack is a CIA agent though obviously he might not be all that pleased that the bank is sending someone over to investigate his actions. This bodyguard takes Jack up to the hotel and then attempts to assassinate him. And why exactly would Victor put a hit man on a bank employee? Isn't that going a bit far. Are the Russians that crazy?
To me, this movie has so many problems with logic that it isn't worth seeing even if the awesome Keira Knightley stars in this movie.
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